Transformers: Subject to Change
by Hisa Kumini
Summary: AU Rated T for language and violence. Millions of years ago, Earth changed forever. While we know something crashed into it, now, in the year 2007, we'll find out why. Please R&R.
1. The End

A/N: This is the beginning of the end... No really, it is.

**The End**

Okay, it wasn't the fact that her house was completely destroyed. No, that had happened long enough ago that it didn't matter anymore. No, it was the fact that the robots, the ones she had helped, her parents had found years before, and now the ones they fought against, were not only destroying each other, but her property. She had made friends with many of the ones that now only barely were able to stand. Hell, her entire home, Earth, had been turned into a battleground over the time that she had been with them. But this...

This was THEE battle that would decide her fate. Her friends' fate. Her planet's fate. The universe's fate. "Why can't my life be easy for once?!" she yelled, though no one heard her. Nearby was the mangled body of the robot she had become closest with. Heck, if the mechanoid was human, she might been her sister.

Now everything that she once thought would never leave was either destroyed utterly or was getting there. Optimus had better win this fight. If he died, she would personally kill him if she had to find a way to raise him from the dead. That is, if she found the time to do that in the first place.

****

A/N: Short, yes. Did it draw you in? Are you reading now? Are you going to hang on to every word that I write, hoping to piece together what the HELL is going on? Good. Because you'll be seeing the again. Now, why did I start the story with the end? In truth, I have no clue. I've just been wanting to start a story like this for a long time. Admittedly, I didn't think would be for anything having ton do with Transformers, but hey, a Transfans gotta do, what a Transfans gotta do. And that's make a fic! Enjoy!

Reminder: Read the story and REVIEW. Press the little button that you use to review and tell me if you liked it or not. Please?

P.S. Hisa Kumini is in no way responsible for any collapses in the space-time continuum or anything like that. However, she might be responsible for random stuff blowing up because she's in a bad mood.

P.P.S. Any and all similarities to real events or people are just plot devices. I mean, coincidental. Or both.

**DISCLAIMER**: Hisa Kumini does _not_ own Transformers. Only her ideas for it.


	2. A Day on the Farm

A/N: Now you get to know how the story _really_ starts.

**A Day on the Farm**

The day so far was pretty normal for Katherine D. Harrison. Water the crops, feed the animals, be bored the rest of the afternoon. Not to say she didn't enjoy this life. Heavens, no, she wouldn't live any other way. But ever since her parents left her the farm last year, it got rather monotonous. If only that cruiser hadn't found a way to sink, she would still be working part time on the farm and part time in her halfway decent job in the city of Spokane. Oh well, what's past, is past. At least she had the entire house to herself.

Forcing herself to look away for the spot on her ceiling the she had been staring at for the past half hour, Kathrine dared glance at an old photo. It was of the late Mr. and Mrs. Harrison with a seven year old Kathrine Harrison atop a small hill behind the barn. It was about twenty years ago, give or take, that the couple had decided that after that last picture, they would dig the hill up. A tedious job, yes, but it needed to be done if they were going to use the land as a pasture. Of course, after they did, they banned her from ever going back there again.

It hurt to remember that right then. It was just last week that it had been her parents' wedding, and death, anniversary. But, tomorrow would be exactly twenty years since that picture was taken. With the elder Harrison's gone, Katherine couldn't help but feel compelled to goto that very spot and just remember stuff. The good times, when they were around to comfort her. Of course, she wouldn't go tomorrow. Tomorrow she would be to 'busy' with the farm and trying to avoid the surprize party her friends probably had planned for her. No, she would go today.

Standing up, Katherine nodded to herself. It wasn't that far a walk, so she wouldn't need anything special. Although, she did quickly grab a pen and a piece of paper. People normally didn't visit her on Fridays, but that didn't mean someone wouldn't come. She put her shoulder length, dark brown hair in a ponytail. Walking outside, she grabbed a pin from the weather wooden door before shutting it for the first time all day. She pinned the note to the door and, after making sure everyone could see it if they approached the deck, walked off toward the barn.

The barn wasn't far, and the hill was just as far from the barn as the barn was from the house. In fact, as eager as she was, it only took a few minutes to start approaching the spot the hill use to be in. But she slowed when she noticed something white and, well, shiny where the hill had been. As she got closer, she noticed the ground around it had been mostly dug out. This was why her parents told her never to come back here again? Had to have been, because when she got to the edge of the crater that was around the white, shiny thing, her brown eyes couldn't believe what they saw.

Not only did the shiny thing extend down to be a really high-tech-looking doorway, but in front of it was a giant, black, robot. Of course, Katherine was more drawn to the doors. Nothing piques your curiosity like a set of giant closed doors you've never seen before. And since it was on her land, Katherine felt entitled to at least know why they were there. Slowly, she made her way down the steep incline that surrounded the white doors. She could have gone faster, but she was focused on the doors.

Half expecting to see one of her look time enemies, Alpha, current second in command and guard of the Ark, looked in the direction of the sound of movement and falling earth, scanning over it carefully. Of course, it did surprize the Autobot to see a human. First time in, what? Twenty years? Of course, surprized or not, Alpha had made a promise to Optimus Prime as soon as she came back online. She would guard the Ark from any and all intruders. And even though this human wasn't a threat, Alpha had to keep that promise. "Halt, this area is restricted."

Katherine, already at the bottom of the crater, stopped dead. _Did that robot just speak?_ Calmly, she looked up at the robot. "Oh, no. This is MY land. You can't stop me from walking on my own property." she said, with just a hint of anger. Judging by the bots tone of voice, it was implying that she leave. The robot seemed rather taken aback by her statement. This shocked Katherine, since she thought Japan hadn't been able to make robots with emotion yet.

Well, this was a unforeseen shock. Alpha knelled down in order to see the spunky organic closer up. The last humans they had encountered had ran at the very sight of her, but this one was more angry than scared. Maybe she should tell Optimus. "I see..." Alpha finally vocalized, considering the human. No harm done if she told Optimus. Standing, the black coloured Autobot walked toward the deck doors of the Ark. "Wait here." the fembot said before entering the automatic doors, which closed quickly behind her.

How would she explain this to Optimus Prime? He probably would be worried as soon as Alpha stepped into the command room. _Best be up front. If not blunt._ The halls of the Ark were pristine, but many were dark due to lack of power. Many of Alpha's comrades still lay in stasis, as only those who were required to repair what they could of the ship were awakened. Thank the Allspark that her friends weren't dead, though.

Taking a turn down the last lit hallway, Alpha came across the doors to the command room. Releasing more of a symbolic sigh as she looked at it, since Transformers didn't breathe, she stood straight and entered.

* * *

A/N: I know, I'm evil. But really didn't expect me not to leave you a cliffhanger after the last chapter, did you? Anyway, I case you haven't noticed, I do normally use the Queens English, thus surprize rather than surprise. I'm sure this brings up a lot more questions than answers, like how the Autobots got there, where are the Decepticons, why the heck this Katherine chick didn't scream/run away when Alpha spoke to her... Things like that. Well, it's a long and winding story. Hopefully I'll be able to address at least some of them next chapter. Don't forget to review! 


	3. You, Me and Giant Robots

**You, Me, and Giant Robots**

She was right. As soon as the door slid open to reveal Alpha, Optimus Prime looked on edge. True, she never left her post, and also true was that if she did, it had to be really important. That didn't make it any easier to tell him about the human. The pause extended for another few seconds before Alpha could finally break the silence. "Sir, there is a human outside the ship. They claim to own the land that we have found ourselves on." A little more blunt than she was hoping for, but it worked.

Optimus was visibly relieved, and that caused Alpha to relax as well. "It has been a while since we have had contact with humans. Bring them in." Optimus said, and watched as Alpha left to carry out the order. She was second in command for that reason, her situational perceptiveness. Serious, almost to a fault, with her duties, though will try to find a way to get her friends out of a fight whole enough to operate.

Above that, the Autobot leader was still trying to figure out why they had not seen the human before. A good question indeed, and one he would defiantly ask when he met with them.

A man stared at the note that sat on the door. 'I'm behind the barn, don't expect me in anytime soon.' His fairly pale skin creased as both eyebrows raised. He was in a very military looking blue suit, and his blondish brown hair was cut to match. "Of all the days, she choose today to good there?" He muttered to himself, placing a package down on the doorstep. Standing there, he weighed his options, before heading in the direction of the place he knew the note spoke of.

He hadn't paid attention to his surroundings until he nearly fell into a crater. Looking at the ship, it took him a second to notice the woman at the bottom. Quickly, the man made his way down into the hole in the ground, stopped next to her. "Ma'am." he addressed, getting her attention.

Katherine turned to the sound of someone's voice, rather surprized to see, "Luis!" His smile looked out of place with all his formal attire on. "Did you get dressed up for my birthday? Did you forget it's tomorrow?"

"No." Luis said, his voice darkening. "No, I didn't forget. I'm not going to be able to come a visit you tomorrow." At Katherine's confused look, he continued, "I'm being called back into service."

Shock and wonder played tag across her expression. "But you just got back! I was at least hoping to spend some time with you!" Luis tried to object, but she put a work tanned hand up. "I know, you don't have control over it."

"And I can't stall them. Before I go, what's this thing all about?"

"Nothing, you should get going."

"Right, see ya. I'll be sure to bring you a gift from Arizona!" Luis yelled, climbing up the crater wall. Katherine spun around to look at him, hoping to protest, but her was already gone. Great. First she meets a giant robot that leaves her there to do who knows what, and now her cousin is going to _Arizona_ of all places for some assignment or another. This was shaping up to be a fine birthday. A fine birthday, indeed. At least she wasn't alone for long, because as soon as she started thinking about leaving and never coming here again, the robot from before returned.

And it looked more relaxed than before. _Okay, this has to be a dream. Some freaky side effect of a drug I didn't know I took_. She thought at the notion that the robot was tense in the first place. While she didn't listen to it speak, she knew it wanted her to follow it when it stood there, looking as if it was waiting. She followed. They only way out of strange dreams like this was to see them through.

Alpha led the human through the halls of the Ark silently. It's not like there was much to say. Even if there was, the human had paid her barely any attention at all last time she spoke, how would she know she was going to be listened to this time? Regardless, she took the human to the command room, leaving after a dismissive nod from Optimus.

Optimus looked at the human that stood in front of him. She was obviously very patient and very confused as to why they were there here. Introductions first, though. "I am Optimus Prime." he said. They had been using the ships main computer to research open waves about humans and some of their customs. While normally they would avoid that, until now it seemed they would have a hard time making proper contact otherwise.

Katherine was amazed to the point that she knew this couldn't be a dream. The ship was definatly something that she couldn't think up herself, and this Optimus Prime was something else entirely. "I'm Katherine Harrison. Now that we know each other, might I ask how the heck you guys ended up in my backyard?" she asked very calmly.

The was one question that, while expected, had no good answer. Yes, he knew how the got on Earth, but beyond that, even Teltraan-1, the ships computer, did not know. "We drifted near your planet, and crash landed. I wish I could provide you with more information, but I cannot. Might I ask why we have not seen you before?"

"I was told by my parent's never to come back here."

The human obviously followed orders well, she would have made a excellent solider had she been a Transformer. "And where are you parents?" he continued.

"Their dead." Katherine said flatly. Considering his attitude, she knew Optimus was about to apologize. "No, it's okay, you didn't know." After taking a deep breath, she continued, "Mind if I took a look around the ship?"

Well, she was definatly to the point. It took Optimus a moment of thought as to whether it was safe for Katherine to do so. He then nodded. "I'm sure Alpha would be willing to show you through the Ark. Within reason, of course."


	4. Discovery

**Discovery**

How long had it been? A week since he left? The sweltering heat and the fact that Luis hadn't slept the last two days didn't help his reminiscing. Of all the things he could have been called into service for, it had to an archaeological in freaking Arizona. Luis loathed the heat! And why was he needed? Couldn't anyone else be sent? No, they were probably off fighting some battle in a place that was much cooled than here. In fact, he could think of about a dozen other places he would rather be than here. All included either home, family or ice. Even as he went on a mental rant, an archaeologist approached him. "Sir, we've found something within the metal artifact."

"That's nice." Luis responded, assuming that it was just a small find. "Keep up the good work..."

"Sir, you don't understand, this is something _big_." Well, that had sure caught Luis's attention. Big? "The others and I thought it would be best to show you before we even attempted to move it." Well, this was getting interesting. With a brisk nod, the man in charge of the military forces here stood. Quickly he was led to the Humvee that had taken the archaeologist here. It didn't have air conditioning, but it did at least have a cover. The driver had probably left to get a drink and cool off, leaving it to sit here. Luis wished to do the same, but if this was so important, he would have to go. Without a word otherwise, he got in the drivers seat, starting the engine. The archaeologist, whose name, if he remembered correctly, was Alan Netchanae, slipped into the vehicles passenger side right before it sped off.

Something big. Something big isn't always something good.

* * *

"Come on! If we're going to get this ship back in working order, we'll need to actually work for it!" Alpha said, picking up a wrench like tool. After one of her friends accidentally found the ship, Katherine had helped the Autobots with what she could. In fact, she had even dug out more of the ships hull, allowing it to absorb more solar energy. Because of that, more of the bots in stasis came online, and the ship could now run effectively. That didn't stop certain Autobots she knew from slacking off, though. "Hey, get to work."

Alpha pushed the shoulder of Hotshot, a bot who was practically her twin. Minus his yellow colouration and harder corners. She smiled at him as he turned to look at her. "Just because you're a soldier doesn't mean you can't get some work done now and then." The humour in her tone caused him to laugh a bit. "Anyway, where's Jetfire? He was suppose to be helping me get the medical area in order."

Hotshot shrugged. "Last I saw him, him and Redalert were going to talk with Optimus." He turned and started to walk away. "Guess I should find something work on, then." With that, he ran off, probably to at least find someone to occupy his time.


	5. One of Those Days

**One of Those Days**

"Optimus, sir, surely we should alert her to the damage." Red Alert, the Autobot medic, pleaded. "While Alpha has not noticed herself yet, something like this won't go unnoticed."

Jetfire nodded. "With all due respect, I agree with Red Alert here." The Autobot leader looked to him, and he shrugged. "I just don't want her to get angry because we kept this from her."

"No. Telling Alpha now will just make her doubt her functionality. For now, just work toward getting the med bay repaired enough to deal with it." Optimus said absolutely. Red Alert, after coming on line, had checked every bot on the ship, repairing what he could. When he scanned Alpha, he discovered some strange data anomalies that he could pinpoint within an area of certainty. The type of anomalies that you don't just go around telling people about. But before Optimus could even ask the medic to explain further the damage, Alpha herself walked in. Everyone looked to her, hoping that she hadn't heard their conversation.

They relaxed when she looked straight at Jetfire. "Pardon, but I believe Jetfire had agreed to help in repairing the ship." she said, leaving Prime and Red Alret to laugh at the look on the mechs face. The fembot smiled in victory as Jetfire walked out, her following shortly after. "Anyway, what were you doing with Red Alert, Jetfire?" Alpha asked as they walked down the hall.

"Giving a report?" he feigned a question. At least he wasn't lying. It was truly the case. He had been on the way to give a status report to Optimus when he almost collided with the rushing medic.

Alpha, on the other hand, didn't look as convinced. "That seems awfully coincidental..." The bot frowned as her companion shrugged. "Come on, we need to repair some breaches."

* * *

When Luis laid eyes on the massive wall of stone and it's exposed centre of metal, he couldn't tell if he was amazed or appalled. The cliff face looked like it had been torn open to get to the metallic structure within. All the while as he drove the Humvee toward the site, he couldn't help but think something was wrong. The commander hoped that he was just mistaking his hatred for the heat for dread. And hope, really, was all he had. 

When they finally came up to the dig site, Luis and Alan were escorted up to the room they found the 'something big'. Due to the fact that the government had supplied a structural elevator, it was a fairly quick walk. The first two rooms they went through were half empty compared to what could have been seen the first few days of digging. In the third room, though, almost every archaeologist and their grandmother were jockeying for a place to see their latest find.

"Coming through." Luis said, gently pushing through the crowd. It didn't take long for the people in front of him to get the idea and move away to make an isle for him to walk down. What he saw as he approached was amazing. A large, metallic, almost human-like, artifact was what the crowd circled. It must have been at least the size of a two story building. "Well, you were right. This is definatly something big." Luis said to Alan, who came up to him from behind.

Even as the mumbled and discussed what it could be and why it would've been made, the object of their marvel stirred. At first, it was just the fingers on a hand, making it seem like it was just part of some mechanism that was giving out. Then it was the entire hand, then the arm. More than a few of the archaeologists screamed startled cries as the artifact pushed itself up. Even in the dim light of the hand lamps that were being carried by many it was to dark to see what was happening as the thing in front of them stood.

There was a dim red glow that slowly grow brighter that made a sweep across the room, looking at every last person in the room. Even Luis could have said if he was asked that he was scared. _Why, oh, WHY do my feelings always have to be right? _He asked himself as he both heard and saw some sort of blast shake the room as it hit some of the archaeologists on the other side of the room. All hell broke loss as scientists ran in fear and military personnel pulled out their fire arms. Luis, on the other hand, just slowly backed away as the metallic monster in front of him continued to blast away...


	6. When Giant Robots Attack

**When Giant Robots Attack**

Alan and Luis were forced to follow the hectic flow of movement as the archaeologists in the room funneled out the exit. The sound of guns discharging slowly thinned from a horrid chorus to a mild pulse until it stopped completely. The panic then increased as the monster began to follow them through the other two rooms. The strange blasts it fired slowly started to thin the crowd, and incite more havoc. After what felt like an eternity, they reached the outside. People pilled into the elevator en mass, or started their decent by climbing down the scaffolding. Some lucky ones managed to find a ladder.

Luis was one of those few. As he made his way toward the ground, all he could think about was that monster. It had looked them over, and instead of focusing on the one's nearest to the exit, it seemed to aim to create chaos. Nothing short of humans that he has encountered before had ever had the ability to reason enough to do that. And the more he thought about it, the less it made sense. As old as they assumed it was, it wouldn't have the ability to reason, period. Let alone exist. About a hundred different impossiblities were running around in his head by the time Luis reached the bottom.

Without thinking, the military worker headed straight for the nearest Humvee. He was followed closely by three archaeologists, one of whom being Alan. Which reminded him that he needed to ask Alan what the _hell_ he was thinking when he decided it was a good thing that they had found something like that. All four of them got into the Humvee pretty quickly, and Luis floored it when he knew all of them were in.

Delta, unlike the humans he was antagonizing, was enjoying this to almost no bounds. His orders were to kill as many as he could while leaving some to tell the tale. They didn't want any others coming while the Decepticons regained their power. Well placed laser blasts killed many, and left good imprints of fear in the organics minds. When he finally chased them all out of the ship, he paused in the shadows. One of their scouts had managed to bring back images of several vehicles used on this planet, and it was his time to test out his.

When he knew no humans would see him, as it would cause his appearance to lose it's planned effect, he transformed, parts shifting and folding into place, until in his place was a helicopter. The humans had dubbed this model an 'Apache' and while he found no use in learning the reasoning behind the name, he enjoyed it's speed. definatly enough to chase the humans away while leaving a impact on their forces. And so, out of the shadows of the ship he came, creating even more confusion as a helicopter, supposedly one for the military, began firing a hail of machine gun bullets upon them.

Things continued in this way for another twenty minutes, until finally they were far enough away that it would be alright to return. With that, he transformed, giving them one last laser blast, which took out one of the vehicles, and headed back to the ship.

* * *

It was rather uneventful for Katherine today. All the Autobots were busy with repairs, leaving her to do whatever. And so, she stood outside the ship, in the pouring rain, laughing to herself as she thought about her life ever since she met these robots. Well, she ended up not avoiding her 'surprize' party, which wasn't as bad as last years. And from then on, she's been coming back here everyday after taking care of the farm. It was funny how quickly she came to accept the Autobots being in her back yard. 

Of course, one habit she didn't realize she had fallen into was leaving that note that her cousin had seen. Sloshing through the mud came a boy of about nineteen years of age. His parents were Katherine's neighbors, and he would normally come and hang out with her, in spite of their age difference. Today, though, she wasn't in her house, and there was a note on the door saying she was behind the barn. "I'm glad she finally questioned their old rule. It can't be all bad back he--!" Without realizing it, he slipped, and began to slide down what he assumed to be a hillside.

When he finally stopped, he cursed about the mud. Oh, well. It was raining, It would come out sooner or later. When he went to stand, he found te ground was abnormally hard considering the rain. Heck, even without the rain it was pretty hard. When he finally decided to open his eyes and banish that part of his boyish grin, he blinked several times in surprize. There were giant, metal doors, right in front of him. "SWEET! I always knew aliens existed!" He yelled in excitement.

Katherine spun around when she heard a familiar voice. It was Alexander Jacobs, or as he liked to be called, Xander. She shook her head violently before she could accept that he was really here. "Alexander, what are you doing here?" Xander looked to Katherine and his smile faded at her question.

"Th note... on the door... I thought.. I mean... um..." This was quite the pickle. He knew he shouldn't have come back here, but his ego told him to. He didn't have much time to think of an excuse, either, because a red-ish orange robot soon came through the doors. It seemed confused, looking from Alexander, to Katherine and back.

* * *

A/N: And there you have it. The first inspired update I've had in a while. So inspired, even, that I decided to leave you with a good cliffhanger instead of one like from the second chapter. Anyway, please read and review and all that wonderful stuff.  



	7. Farm Life Never Looked so Good

**Farm Life Never Looked so Good  
**

"Oh, uh, hi Ratchet." Katherine said with a nervous smile. Alexander was the second person to have found the ship besides her. Admittedly, the first one was a sneak and followed her there. Although, Ratchet didn't seem to concerned about that. From behind him came a woman who was about twenty eight or so. Her head was down and a laptop was held in both hands behind her back. It was that sneak, Elna. Had she sneaked into the ship?

Considering the look that Ratchet had, she'd say yes. "I found her in the computer room." Ratchet said as Elna walked forward. "Please try to keep track of her."

"Elna, I told you. They're in the middle of fixing stuff, why...?"

"W-well, all... all the computers and the big fancy stuff and..." Katherine slapped her forehead as the red-head chuckle nervously. "I was staying out of their way and all, I just wanted to take a closer look." Her green eyes sparkled when she so much as thought about the Arks main computer. Xander chuckled, Katherine sighed and Ratchet left.

At least these two were people who could be trusted. "Fine, you guys can come back here--" she shoot a glare a Elna, "--just don't tell anyone." With friends like them, why bother being careful. As long as they could keep a secret, everything would be fine. _I'm starting to miss my simple farm life._

* * *

"Sir, I understand that you are skeptical. But I am telling you the truth. The site was attacked by a large, robotic A.I. that took the form of a helicopter." Luis had been sitting there for the past three minutes trying to explain to his commanding officer what had happened. Apparently the military couldn't quite believe fifty eye-witness reports. "It pursued us no farther than a hundred and twenty five yards from the main site. I think it was guarding it." _Or maybe it just went crazy in this heat. _All he could do is wait for an answer. 

Luckily for him, they had made it to a near by town, and the greatest blessing he'd seen yet, air conditioning! Which was part of the reason why he didn't blow up in the diner they were in why he finally got a response. "Are you sure it wasn't a mass hallucination?"

'Course, that didn't stop him from wanting to smack the man on the other end of the phone upside the head. "Yes, sir, considering there are bullet holes in the Humvees and dead men." Luis was trying his best to stay calm and formal, failing at the latter with flying colours. What was there to do? If his commanding officer didn't believe him, all he could do was sit here.


	8. Here We Go

**Here We Go**

"After much thought and consideration-" the CO finally said after a long wait. "-we decided to allow you to pull out. I want a full report on the incident in two days. I'll leave it up to you to tell them. I'll contact you when we have a time for your pick up." Luis thanked whatever god was watching over him for getting him out of this hell-hole even as the man hung up on him. All the civilians in the diner, save the cooks and other employees, were out of the building, so he wouldn't have to feel dumb when he told the men under him about the phone call.

He stood, taking a deep breath, and suddenly felt every eye in the room on him. "You all know I'm not one for speeches, so I'll make this short. HQ, in all their wisdom and kindness, said we can go home." There were cheers and woots in response. A couple people even said that they'd buy everyone drinks. "Alright, calm down. From the sounds of it, it'll be a day or today before we get out of here, but you will know when they're going to get us. But, they can't keep us out here forever. That is, unless they plan on paying us more." His lame excuse for a joke managed to draw out a couple laughs and lighten the mood a bit. Alan, who had ended up sitting across from Harrison, shook his head.

It was a rough day, and the mans unruly, and greying, dishwater blonde hair made him look like he had just been electrocuted. He adjusted his glasses as Luis sat down. "Mr. Harrison," he began, his New Yorker accent trickling in through his business voice. "That... thing, it wasn't human."

"No shit."

"No, no, I mean it wasn't man made. Unless we've made time machines in the future and dropped it there. And I somehow doubt anyone would just leave it there."

"So, what? You're saying you think it was made by aliens?" He couldn't believe this. The man believed in aliens? He's suppose to be a scientist, to not believe something unless he can prove it.

The archaeologist shrugged. "I'm not dismissing the possibility. It is a pretty big universe out there."

* * *

Delta huffed as he marched through the the open rooms of the _Nemesis_. Lousy flesh-bags were pretty fast. And they did enough damage to the ship that it would take a while before they could wake anyone else from stasis. When this was down, he was so going to personally hunt down and slag the little bugs. It was a good thing Megatron didn't mind him killing some in the process of chasing them off. It would teach them not to come back. A door at the far back of the last breached room slid open with all the grace of a meteor crash, and he entered the inner hold of the Decepticon ship. 

And of all the cons he had to bump into, it had to be their resident double-agent. Shade was one fem that he loved to hate, mostly because of his past experiences with her, and partly his general hate for fems. He sneered at her as she gave him the most innocent smile ever. "Why, hello Delta. It's been a while. I trust everything went well outside?"

"Leave me alone, Shade. And spare me your sweet talk." The fem always played on more than one cord, trying to twist others impressions of her. Well, it wouldn't work on him. Nope, not anymore. When he spoke, though, she offended, again, trying to twist him. Eventually she gave up, walking away with a huff. He was pleased to see her upset at him, though he knew it wouldn't last long. Either way, he needed to report his small success to Megatron, and hope the fleshlings didn't return. They were more trouble than they were worth.

* * *

Life had gone from boring, strange, annoying and back to boring again in less than a month. At least all the humans that knew of the Autobots had something to do. Elna had found a way to help the giant robots with their computers, and Xander and Katherine were stuck with digging out more of the ship. Well, it was better than sitting around twiddling their thumbs, Katherine thought. And it was a good way to pass the time. 

Xander, on the other hand, was not as pleased. He had expected to be doing something more. Lifting parts, connecting circuits, answering questions, SOMETHING! Instead, he was flat out laughed at when he suggested the lifting thing, refused on the circuits and it seemed they knew almost everything they needed from the internet. He felt about as useful as a sack of potatoes. Of course, even potatoes sacks had a use, and he found himself with a shovel in his hand. At least it wasn't raining anymore. Plus, the ground was pretty soft, so when he wasn't sinking, he could plow through the currently swamp-like mud.

* * *

A/N: Yeah, I'm running low on ideas at the moment. If you can suggest some, I can get a new chapter up faster. Anyway, read a review, my loyal readers. 


	9. Peace and Unrest

**Peace and Unrest  
**

Delta cursed his luck as he entered Megaron's throne room. He had hoped to get this over with quickly, but instead, he found that he had to wait for Omega. Don't get him wrong, he considered Omega something close to a friend, but after meeting with Shade in the hall, Delta was in a sour mood. With a grunt, he leaned against a wall, waiting. "I cannot condone you doing this!" Delta almost jumped when Omega yelled. "Intruders or no, they could not defend themselves." the weapons master continued, taking a sharp step towards Megatron.

"You should review your processor, Omega." their leader, Megatron, began, metallic face contorted in a parody of a sneer. "The weak do not deserve to live." His former sub-commander began to protest, but he cut him off. "Take care, at this rate you will not have to worry about the fleshlings."

It was silent for a few moments tension growing between the two Decepticons. With a low growl, Omega broke the silence. "You have no honour left, Megatron. This marks the end of our alliance." Delta remained quiet for a moment, stepping from the wall only when Omega turned to leave. He put up the machine gun-like weapon attached to his arm, aiming for his friends spark.

"Nothing personal, but you know I cannot allow you to leave."

"Stand down, Delta. Let him go.." The orders were sudden, but the con did as he was told, stepping away from the--now considered--traitor. The powerful Cybertronian silently walked out the room, likely going to exit the ship. "Shade." The fem appeared, as if from the air, next to where Omega had confronted their lord. "Track him, but stay out of sight. He might end up leading you to the Autobots."

"As you wish, Lord Megatron." the spy bowed. Metal on her body began to contort and shift, bending and folding and shrinking until in her place was a stealth jet. Her form faded into the air, her camouflage re-activating, then silently left.

* * *

Inside the Ark, Elna worked with Ratchet and Red Alert, her laptop plugged into their computer. There were plenty of blocks on the mainframe, but that didn't hinder much. In fact, there was little she could do, other than update their database with the latest info. While she did, however, she took the liberty of study some of their history. Not much to it other than war, at least on the surface. It made her slightly uneasy to know they've been fighting since before written history. And then there was that huge gap from what she assumed to be a crash to aboutt twenty years ago.

Grumbling a bit, she swore to herself as the Autobots computer kicked her off her connection. "Red Alert? Would you be so kind as to tell your ships computer to at least warn me next time?"


End file.
